The makers of the Sarco suicide capsule have confirmed that it has been used for the first time. A 64-year-old American woman is believed to be the first person to die from the device.
Police in northern Switzerland reported that several people were arrested on Monday and a criminal case has been opened.
The ‘Sarco’ suicide capsule is designed to allow a person inside to press a button that injects nitrogen gas into the sealed chamber. The person is then supposed to fall asleep and die of asphyxiation within a few minutes.
Prosecutors in the canton of Schaffhausen were informed by a law firm that a euthanasia using the Sarco capsule took place on Monday near a forest hut in Merishausen, police said in a statement.
It said “several people” had been arrested and prosecutors had opened an investigation on suspicion of incitement and complicity in suicide.
The ‘Sarco’ pod, whose creators say the occupant can press a button and cause his own death
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